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BY THE 
ST. LOUIS POETESS 



Leiah Harrison Brown 



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Two Copies Received 

MAY 20 1904 

Copyright Entry 

y'A.ou^^O'l^ O t 

CLASS^ OoXXo. No. 

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Behold the White City 

That beckons far and near, 
That gathers from the universe, 

A million gifts appear. 
Her massive walls protruding. 

Her rising pinnacles, 
Her shining roofs alluding. 

Her columns there descend. 

Behold her in her splendor. 

Whose very name displays 
Great progress of the ages, 

Her avenues and ways ; 
Her march upon yon centuries 

Forever dead and past 
To-day shall shine victorious — 

The modern and the fast. 

Her court-like domes and buildings, 

Her palatial facades 
Surrounding views of Orient, 

Her winding balustrades ; 
Her hills and vales ascending, 

Her million lights aglow. 
Her precious Niagara 

O^er rocks of mineral flow. 
-.3 — 



Beyond her varied industries 

Gleam countries of the world, 
Who stand beside America 

With banners all unfurl' d, 
Of every tongue and color, 

Bedeck the great Midway 
A mark — a representative — 

In the progress of to-day. 

Her thousand wheels revolving. 

Her batteries resound 
Like some dark ocean liner 

Through deadly waves rebound 
Or groan upon the surf 

Of the ever-sinking brine, 
When this great spectacular opens 

In this gJorious modern time. 

When Stars and Stripes shall fiutter 

Beside the Orient, 
And songs shall rise together 

Of every dialect, 
Where the greatest of Expositions 

Upon a strip of land, 
Bespeak a rural byway 

Transplanted by man. 

Surrounding dells and gardens, 

The fair Jerusalem ; 
No more the winter hardens 

The dancing waterfalls, 



The brilliant flow electrical 
Shall capture every eye 

That views the panorama — 
They dare not pass her by. 

Although our foreign brother 

May not just prove us well, 
His space will not be missing 

Upon the flowery dell, 
For Japan shall spell ilumi 

Upon this glorious site, 
And the rockets of to-morrow 

May be canceled in the night. 

And o'er the great White City 

A thousand flags unfurPd 
May echo peace and safety 

To great countries of the world, 
Who hath gained upon the ages 

In velocity of speed. 
In great electrical forces— 

The greatest of man's need. 

To send a thousand messengers 

Across the ocean deep. 
From foreign shores responding 

The nations hear and speak. 



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Mortb of tbe £xpositiort. 



Though it has cost her many millions 
To have the great World's Fair, 

A million hearts will gladden 
And a million eyes will stare. 

To view the rare exhibits 
From nations far and wide 

Will be a living benefit 
Upon every human side. 

Where energy has spared no seconds 

In the race for rapid skill, 
In the face of bold activity 

Flow in and out at will. 

Where science has proved ethereal, 

Inventions paramount, 
Great strides in education 

Too numerous to count. 

In unity they have struggled 

With a never-ceasing tire. 
With sheerness of sight and strategy. 

To master heat and light. 

Religion in the days of Genesis, 
The primitive and the new. 

The same God stirs the universe, 
The Christian and the Jew. 

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Alike He calls to nations 

From the uttermost parts of earth, 
Reveals through man His being 

From the cradle of His birth. 

So He stands to-day as Master, 

In the likeness of His God, 
A prince, a bard, a ruler, 

In His hands He holds the rod. 

And now this anniversary 

Which the world hath called to serve ; 
May it excite man's animation 

In the strength of God to serve. 

Where living founts now opened 

From every field and stage. 
From the crudest to the fittest, 

In this wide, progressive age. 

XLbc IFlew St Xoufs. 



There'll be a new St. Louis 
In this city of the West, 

The seat of the great metropolis, 
Where all classes will be blest. 

While the clamor and the tumult. 
With her endless wheels afloat, 

Shall awaken every fibre 
Of the palatial court. 



There'll be some faint resemblance 
Of the old one come and gone, 

The mud will be some harder 

And the winds will sometimes mourn, 

However they will frolic 

With the bonnets as they sail, 

The mothers-in-law will jabber 
For the pouring down of hail. 

And the men will say, "" 'Tis nothing 

To compare with Buffalo;" 
The old maid will regret it 

That she didn't catch a beau. 

And the stately troop of old maids 
Will be prominent in the game, 

Who make out boys are worthless, 
But they like them all the same. 

And when the Fair is over. 

What a solemn, solemn grave — 

The parks will all be empty 
With a discontented wave. 

And the people will be wishing 

For another glorious Fair, 
But not to show St. Louis, 

For she's had enough to share. 

So it is the great forthcoming — 

Not the glory of the real' — 
That unites our imagination 

With the ever-turning wheel. 



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